I think I can proclaim my ERRs officially broken in. I received new tops a couple of days ago, these made it past the UPS crushers and look lovely. I estimate around 250 actual playing hours on the speakers, a variety of music and different loudness.

As stated before I can better tell the difference between a well recorded album and a not so well recorded album with this system which is all Decware except the sources. I really love this system more each day as I go through my vinyl and CD collection. Sound stage, depth, detail and clarity are strong points what else is there? I still smile whenever I hear something new on a recording I am familiar with. It registers like where did that come from? It's like discovering music all over again.

I wanted to write this yesterday but I lost a day of my life spending most of yesterday in an Emergency Room passing a kidney stone. I beg God to spare me from going through that again.

Very sorry to hear about yesterday Richard! I too hope you don't have to go through that again.

"What else is there?" Well for me in some ways the most important thing is tonal balance. Especially when listening to well recorded acoustic instruments . . . it's the deal breaker for me; if the tonal balance is not right, then violins and cellos and clarinets and pianos et al are just hard to really listen to.

Decware really gets it close, and I love the Radials because they get it done with sucn solidity. Yes, I have to scale down the tweeters in my rooms and have done so, its either that or extensive room treatment and I'm just not going to do the extensive room treatment. The "treble cut circuit" in the Integrated that I bought (and Bob tells me it's also on the Torii I will have soon) really helps too.

I too love and enjoy the system. I spent many hours yesterday alternating between listening to the system, and playing around with a new "hand made" guitar, Stratocaster like, that I have that has a walnut body and an inlaid maple top, wow, tone tone tone. Tubes in the amps either way, and I don't think I'll ever really love a solid state amp ever again.

I removed some of the room treatment making a slight improvement, the room was actually too quiet sucking some of the life out of the music. I ended up removing half the side panels, all the ceiling pillows and one bass trap and things just started feeling right. I sometimes feel things I cannot hear like someone telling me to stop right there. I have a friend building a recording studio who can use my old panels.

Custom guitar Lon? I have a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster I dearly love. A few years ago I got to play one of Gerald Webber's canary wood Town House guitars and wish I had bought one. We played through one of his Texas Crude Roughneck amps, what a tone monster that was.

Well, mine is not the beast that your Custom Shop is! Mine I bought second hand and is supposed to have been built by a shop in Branson, MO called R-N-R Custom Guitar Shop. Haven't been able to find any info on that shop. I seems to be part hand built (walnut body, walnut and maple headstock inlay, quilted maple top and walnut inlay) and the rest stadard Fender Strat components (neck, loaded pickguard, bridge).

It plays quite nice, and the walnut gives it a nice tone.

I'm not crazy about the white pickguard, but I haven't decided what if any color would look better.

Lon I had a Jap made Fender Strat someone had put Bill Lawerence pickups on and I sold it. One of the bigger mistakes I have made in my life. that was one of the best sounding, best playing guitars I had and I must have been crazy that day. It was tri-sunburst with tortoise pickguard, black pickups and knobs, rosewood neck and gold hardware.

That was probably one beautiful guitar. Nice color scheme. Guitars, as you know are magic. . . one can be a dud, one just like it shine. Wood has its own way.

I put some heavier strings on this one (.12 E string and on up) and liking it. . . .didn't like the light Ernie Balls that were on there and they weren't staying in tune well. This is a nice guitar. . . . I'd wanted a Fender with a Walnut body but couldn't find one worth a hoot that I could afford. So this is a nice alternative.

All my guitars are pretty good sounding as they are but one. . . . My Ovation Breadwinner (one of the earliest ones, with single-coil pickups and a wonderful Strat like neck) is a bit noisey but man you can get so many different sounds. My Vintage Mahogany Les Paul and it's awesome humbuckers has all the Gibson sounds I'd want. My Agile Les Paul copy from Korea, fretless, has a great sound, I use it as a "slide guitar," sliding up to the notes and it can sound like Duane Allman's guitar (without Duane Allman as an operator).

The one that I wish I could re-pickup is really. . .my '72 Thinline Telecaster Reissue. Those humbuckers on there have a wonderful bright sound, and a wonderful bright sound, and a wonderful bright sound! I really want at least the neck position to be mellower, darker, meatier. May look into that. It's a nice guitar otherwise, it's one oft he Made in Mexicos, build quality is very good, the neck plays like butter.

Lon those Taco Casters ( slang for the Mexican Fenders ) are of fairly good quality. You might want to try something like a Seymore Duncan Jazz Model SH 2 in the neck position and a Quarter Pound at the bridge.

Nah, I'm probably going to sell this Thinline. I just don't really find that I need it. I've picked up a '59 Jazzmaster reissue that I've fallen in love with. I think if I had one guitar only, that would be it. Wonderful machine, love the dark tones and the neck (it's a modern neck, not a reissue of the narrow neck on the original) and am fascinated with what I can do with this guitar (true jazz tones, any kind of blues tones I want).

And I've concentrated a lot on bass, bought a Deluxe Precision that absolutely plays and sounds wonderfully, and have really bonded with my Wishbass (built by luthier Steve Wishnevsky) fretless bass.

So over the next months I'll probably thin the herd and sell the Strat in this thread, a Vintage Mahogany Les Paul Studio, a fretless Les Paul copy by Agile, a Telecaster copy (handmade) that I bought that has a set=in mahogany neck and a Korina body, warm guitar, possibly my Jack Cassady Epiphone bass, and maybe my early seventies Ovation Breadwinner. I have two other Strats I'll keep: a Billy Corgan (incredible neck!) and a 2004 50th Anniversary Deluxe Strat wtih mahogany body, incredible sound.